{"id":16168,"date":"2016-09-27T20:32:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T20:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink---pray-17916\/"},"modified":"2016-09-27T20:32:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-27T20:32:00","slug":"pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? Don’t drink – pray!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2016 \/ 02:32 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Feelings of spiritual desolation, or a lack of will to live, should be combated with prayer, not with sleeping pills or alcohol \u2013 things that only distract us from the problem \u2013 Pope Francis said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to understand that when our soul is in this state of generalized sadness we can barely breathe: This happens to all of us\u2026 whether strong or not,\u201d the Pope said in a homily Sept. 27. We need to \u201cunderstand what goes on in our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offered on the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, the Pope said Mass at Casa Santa Marta for the Vincentian Sisters the Daughters of Charity, who serve at the house.<\/p>\n

In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the day's first reading, which is from the Book of Job, saying \u201cSpiritual desolation makes us feel as though our souls are crushed, we can\u2019t succeed, we can\u2019t succeed and we also don\u2019t want to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Death is better!\u2019 This was Job\u2019s outburst. It was better to die than live like this. What should we do when we experience these dark moments, be it for a family tragedy, an illness, something that weighs us down?\u201d the Pope asked.<\/p>\n

Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking \u201cone, two, three or four glasses\u201d of alcohol, which \u201cdo not help,\u201d Francis said we should pray.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!\u201d Pope Francis stated. \u201cOur Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quoting the day's Psalm, he said to pray, \u201cLord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,\u201d the Pope continued. \u201cThis is genuine prayer. And it\u2019s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don't understand why something is happening.<\/p>\n

And then, he said, \u201cwe must pray to the Lord like today's reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. 'Let my prayer come before you, Lord.'\u201d<\/p>\n

Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; \u201cbut a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don\u2019t help in the end and even can do harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis' homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace \u201cto know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2016 \/ 02:32 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Feelings of spiritual desolation, or a lack of will to live, should be combated with prayer, not with sleeping pills or alcohol – things that only distract us from the problem – Pope Francis said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“We need to understand that when our soul is in this state of generalized sadness we can barely breathe: This happens to all of us… whether strong or not,” the Pope said in a homily Sept. 27. We need to “understand what goes on in our hearts.”<\/p>\n

Offered on the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, the Pope said Mass at Casa Santa Marta for the Vincentian Sisters the Daughters of Charity, who serve at the house.<\/p>\n

In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s first reading, which is from the Book of Job, saying “Spiritual desolation makes us feel as though our souls are crushed, we can’t succeed, we can’t succeed and we also don’t want to live.”<\/p>\n

“‘Death is better!’ This was Job’s outburst. It was better to die than live like this. What should we do when we experience these dark moments, be it for a family tragedy, an illness, something that weighs us down?” the Pope asked.<\/p>\n

Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking “one, two, three or four glasses” of alcohol, which “do not help,” Francis said we should pray.<\/p>\n

“It is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!” Pope Francis stated. “Our Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.”<\/p>\n

Quoting the day’s Psalm, he said to pray, “Lord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.”<\/p>\n

“This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.”<\/p>\n

Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don’t understand why something is happening.<\/p>\n

And then, he said, “we must pray to the Lord like today’s reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. ‘Let my prayer come before you, Lord.’”<\/p>\n

Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; “but a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don’t help in the end and even can do harm.”<\/p>\n

Francis’ homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace “to know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.”<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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We need to “understand what goes on in our hearts.” Offered on the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, the Pope said Mass at Casa Santa Marta for the Vincentian Sisters the Daughters of Charity, who serve at the house. In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the day's first reading, which is from the Book of Job, saying “Spiritual desolation makes us feel as though our souls are crushed, we can’t succeed, we can’t succeed and we also don’t want to live.” “‘Death is better!’ This was Job’s outburst. It was better to die than live like this. What should we do when we experience these dark moments, be it for a family tragedy, an illness, something that weighs us down?” the Pope asked. Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking “one, two, three or four glasses” of alcohol, which “do not help,” Francis said we should pray. “It is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!” Pope Francis stated. “Our Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.” Quoting the day's Psalm, he said to pray, “Lord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.” “This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.” Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don't understand why something is happening. And then, he said, “we must pray to the Lord like today's reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. 'Let my prayer come before you, Lord.'” Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; “but a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don’t help in the end and even can do harm.” Francis' homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace “to know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.”\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? 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Let my prayer come before you, Lord.” “This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.” Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don't understand why something is happening. And then, he said, “we must pray to the Lord like today's reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. 'Let my prayer come before you, Lord.'” Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; “but a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don’t help in the end and even can do harm.” Francis' homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace “to know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.”\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-27T20:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_6_at_the_general_audience_in_St_Peters_Square_Feb_3_2016_Credit_Daniel_Ibanez_CNA_2_3_16.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/\",\"name\":\"Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? 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Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking “one, two, three or four glasses” of alcohol, which “do not help,” Francis said we should pray. “It is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!” Pope Francis stated. “Our Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.” Quoting the day's Psalm, he said to pray, “Lord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.” “This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. 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It was better to die than live like this. What should we do when we experience these dark moments, be it for a family tragedy, an illness, something that weighs us down?” the Pope asked. Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking “one, two, three or four glasses” of alcohol, which “do not help,” Francis said we should pray. “It is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!” Pope Francis stated. “Our Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.” Quoting the day's Psalm, he said to pray, “Lord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.” “This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.” Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don't understand why something is happening. And then, he said, “we must pray to the Lord like today's reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. 'Let my prayer come before you, Lord.'” Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; “but a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don’t help in the end and even can do harm.” Francis' homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace “to know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.”","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? 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It was better to die than live like this. What should we do when we experience these dark moments, be it for a family tragedy, an illness, something that weighs us down?” the Pope asked. Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking “one, two, three or four glasses” of alcohol, which “do not help,” Francis said we should pray. “It is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!” Pope Francis stated. “Our Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.” Quoting the day's Psalm, he said to pray, “Lord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.” “This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.” Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don't understand why something is happening. And then, he said, “we must pray to the Lord like today's reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. 'Let my prayer come before you, Lord.'” Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; “but a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don’t help in the end and even can do harm.” Francis' homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace “to know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.”","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2016-09-27T20:32:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_6_at_the_general_audience_in_St_Peters_Square_Feb_3_2016_Credit_Daniel_Ibanez_CNA_2_3_16.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/","name":"Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? Don't drink - pray!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-09-27T20:32:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-27T20:32:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Vatican City, Sep 27, 2016 \/ 02:32 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Feelings of spiritual desolation, or a lack of will to live, should be combated with prayer, not with sleeping pills or alcohol – things that only distract us from the problem – Pope Francis said Tuesday. “We need to understand that when our soul is in this state of generalized sadness we can barely breathe: This happens to all of us… whether strong or not,” the Pope said in a homily Sept. 27. We need to “understand what goes on in our hearts.” Offered on the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, the Pope said Mass at Casa Santa Marta for the Vincentian Sisters the Daughters of Charity, who serve at the house. In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the day's first reading, which is from the Book of Job, saying “Spiritual desolation makes us feel as though our souls are crushed, we can’t succeed, we can’t succeed and we also don’t want to live.” “‘Death is better!’ This was Job’s outburst. It was better to die than live like this. What should we do when we experience these dark moments, be it for a family tragedy, an illness, something that weighs us down?” the Pope asked. Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking “one, two, three or four glasses” of alcohol, which “do not help,” Francis said we should pray. “It is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!” Pope Francis stated. “Our Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.” Quoting the day's Psalm, he said to pray, “Lord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.” “This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.” Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don't understand why something is happening. And then, he said, “we must pray to the Lord like today's reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. 'Let my prayer come before you, Lord.'” Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; “but a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don’t help in the end and even can do harm.” Francis' homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace “to know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.”","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-francis-feeling-hopeless-dont-drink-pray\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? 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